PHRAGMENTS FROM PHYLLIS: Such grand plans

Thursday, February 27, 2014

I had such grand plans.

Tom was going to be in Honduras all last week – having gotten a late start following the ice storm. He was supposed to leave on Thursday, Feb. 13, but flight delays put him on the trip on the following Sunday.

Just before he left, we had a 24-hour visit from our youngest grandchild, and before that we – like so many others – had a house full of refugees from homes with no power.

Then Monday was Presidents Day, so kids continued to be home from school.

All of this combined to prime me for a little me-time while Cade and Payton were in school the rest of the week. I had such grand plans – some mundane, like finally doing some housecleaning after so much activity, and others more, well, fun, like a night of playing bridge and time to be spent shopping for a dress to wear as mother-of-the-groom in March.

I also was looking forward to two Chamber events – the annual meeting and Women in a Business. The Chamber banquet had been moved to Monday, Feb. 17, and then WIB was moved into March.

So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I headed out on Monday to the big Chamber event. It was marvelous. The food was very good – no surprise with Cal Berry in charge. Because of the date change, Sen. Tim Scott was unable to appear, as originally scheduled, but our own Walker Posey was entertaining and insightful regarding today's workforce in the post-social media era. Pam Stickler, who has single-handedly brought area folks with special needs into the world of recreational activities, was named Citizen of the Year – a well-deserved honor for all she does.

Somewhere in there my son, Mac, spent two solid days sawing branches and picking up debris from the storm so that when Tom came home, most of the heavy lifting would already be done. We have a pile of firewood, plus a 3- or 4-foot high strip of limbs all across the front of our property thanks to his efforts.

But all my plans for my free week went south beginning in the middle of the night on Monday. I awoke thinking there must have been some avocado hidden in something I ate. (Avocado and I do not get along – at all.) I spent the night throwing up and Tuesday feeling awful and was almost positive it was somehow food related (sorry for ever thinking that, Cal) until Wednesday, when I got the dreaded call that I needed to get Cade from school. He was sick. Then Wednesday night Payton got it. As a result, the three of us spent Thursday trying to recover from this dreaded virus, for that certainly must be what it was.

Anyway, Thursday was supposed to be my big chance for self-indulgence. Instead I was just trying to get everyone well enough to go back to school. (And thanks to my almost-daughter-in-law – a nurse practitioner – I at least had a little help getting my stomach into a much happier state.)

Finally on Friday, when the kids went home to their parents, I began to think I might be able to do some shopping on Saturday, at least. As it turned out, I had more time than I expected. Usually Cat, Scott and the kids meet Tom (when he's in country) and me for breakfast on Saturday, but late on Friday Cat was the next casualty of the lethal but relatively short-lived ailment.

So, feeling almost human, I got up early on Saturday to start my search for suitable wedding attire. The miracle of modern technology meant I could take pictures dressed in the top contenders and send them to my daughters and my future daughter-in-law for a thumbs up or thumbs down. As a result, in three hours I had a dress and was on my way home.

By the time Tom returned from Honduras on Sunday night, everyone was well, I had enjoyed a little adult conversation at bridge night on Saturday and Sunday school on Sunday, I was closer to being ready for Mac and Joy's wedding, and the ice storm and earthquake of 2014 were fading memories.

My week of “freedom” was lost forever – but, hey, I do have a dress, so it wasn't a total loss.

Now we're onto a weekend with Pearce. I have a really strong feeling that this might be the time my 14-month-old granddaughter decides it's time to walk. We shall see.